Let's see, a 10 million name zone file occupies about $2 worth of disk space ($4 if we use RAID to improve damage immunity). On a per-name basis, that's vanishing small, even if you add the cost of backup and archival systems.

And one does hope that once loaded that the search of the zone database uses an efficient technique - even BIND can return responses in 10s to 100's of microseconds from a multi-tens-of-millions name zone on everyday computers.

The cost of confirming that a name is still desired could be as low as an e-mail to the various contacts asking for a reply that will serve as a continuation.

With techniques like that, a few cents per year per name - lets say 10 cents - would bring in millions of dollars per year from something like .com. That's plenty to cover the costs operational costs if the egregious expense of today's billing systems are avoided.

At 10cents per year it makes sense to simply bill up-front when the name is first taken out - Most of us could afford the $10 to get a 100 year registration.